Tire inflator with inflation timer

ABSTRACT

A portable inflation device having a pump, a control device, a user interface, and an inflation indicator. The pump includes an elongated hose with an inflation nozzle. The control device controls operation of the pump and is configured to sense a current pressure of an object, calculate the estimated remaining time to inflate the object to a target pressure, and display the remaining time using the inflation indicator. The user interface is configured to allow a user to enter the target pressure into the control device.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation patent application and claimspriority of co-pending application titled “TIRE INFLATOR WITH INFLATIONTIMER”, Ser. No. 15/794,173, filed Oct. 26, 2017, which claims priorityto U.S. provisional application titled “TIRE INFLATOR WITH INFLATIONTIMER”, Ser. No. 62/413,091, filed Oct. 26, 2016, both of which areincorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

FIELD

The present invention relates to inflation devices, and moreparticularly, a portable inflation device for inflating tires and otherobjects.

BACKGROUND

Portable tire inflators are often used to inflate automobile tires,bicycle and motorcycle tires, trailer tires, rafts, and the like. Tomake such tire inflators sufficiently small and light-weight forportable use, the tire inflators must be equipped with relatively smallair pumps that require several minutes to fully inflate some objects,especially large automobile tires. Because inflation times vary based onthe sizes and pressure ratings of objects to be inflated, users do notknow how long it will take to inflate a particular tire or other object.This wastes time because users must remain at the tire inflator andwatch the tire inflator's pressure gauge until the object reaches fullinflation. It is also potentially dangerous because tires often need tobe inflated near heavy traffic, and remaining outside a vehicle neartraffic to monitor the inflation progress places users in a vulnerableposition. Further, not remaining at the inflator to monitor theinflation progress risks over-inflation, which may damage the objectbeing inflated.

This background discussion is intended to provide information related tothe present invention which is not necessarily prior art.

SUMMARY

The present invention solves the above-described and other problems byproviding a portable inflation device that calculates when an objectwill be fully inflated and then displays or otherwise indicates theremaining inflation time so a user does not have to remain near theinflation device and monitor its progress.

An embodiment of the inflation device for inflating an object of thepresent invention broadly includes a pump, a user interface, aninflation indicator, and a control device. The pump generatespressurized gas or air and includes an elongated hose and an inflationnozzle configured to connect to the object. The user interface receivesa target pressure from a user. The inflation indicator is coupled to thecontrol device and is configured to display information concerninginflation of the object. The control device controls operation of thepump, determines a current pressure of the object, receives the targetpressure from the user interface, calculates an estimated remaining timefor running the air pump until the current pressure is within apredetermined margin of the target pressure, and displays the estimatedremaining time on the inflation indicator.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the detaileddescription. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other aspectsand advantages of the present invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanyingdrawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below withreference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic depiction of an inflation device in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1A is a flowchart of steps in an embodiment of inflating an object;

FIG. 2 is a plain view of an inflation indicator of the tire inflator ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflator ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflator ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflator ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflator ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflator ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflator ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflator ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 14 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 15 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 16 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 17 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 18 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 19 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 20 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 21 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 22 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 23 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 24 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 25 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 26 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 27 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 28 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 29 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 30 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 31 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 32 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 33 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1;

FIG. 34 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1; and

FIG. 35 is a variation of the inflation indicator of the tire inflatorof FIG. 1.

The drawing figures do not limit the present invention to the specificembodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description of the invention references theaccompanying drawings that illustrate specific embodiments in which theinvention can be practiced. The embodiments are intended to describeaspects of the invention in sufficient detail to enable those skilled inthe art to practice the invention. Other embodiments can be utilized andchanges can be made without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to betaken in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention is definedonly by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents towhich such claims are entitled.

In this description, references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or“embodiments” mean that the feature or features being referred to areincluded in at least one embodiment of the technology. Separatereferences to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” inthis description do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and arealso not mutually exclusive unless so stated and/or except as will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art from the description. Forexample, a feature, structure, act, etc. described in one embodiment mayalso be included in other embodiments, but is not necessarily included.Thus, the present technology can include a variety of combinationsand/or integrations of the embodiments described herein.

A portable inflation device 10 constructed in accordance with anembodiment of the invention is schematically shown in FIG. 1, andbroadly includes an air pump or compressor 12, a user interface 14, aninflation indicator 16, and a control device 18. These and othercomponents of the portable inflation device 10 may be enclosed withinand/or mounted on a housing 20 or other enclosure.

The air pump 12 may be any conventional air pump known in the art andmay include an internal compressor, pump, fan, or other mechanism forgenerating pressurized air. The air pump 12 includes an elongated airhose 22 with an inflation nozzle 24 on one end for delivering thepressurized air to a tire or other object. The air pump 12 may have anyamperage or horsepower rating, and may be small and light enough for anaverage user to manually carry. The air pump 12 and/or the controldevice 18 may also have a sensor for sensing the current pressure of thetire or other object to which the air hose 22 and inflation nozzle 24are attached.

The user interface 14 is wired to or wirelessly coupled with the controldevice 18 and allows a user to enter data and information for use by thecontrol device 18. The user interface 14 may be an electronic devicecapable of wired or wireless coupling, such as a cell phone, laptop,computer, tablet, or the like, or an application, program, or websiteused by one of the aforementioned devices. Wired or wireless couplingmay include signal or data transmitting and receiving circuits, such asantennas, transceivers, amplifiers, filters, mixers, oscillators,digital signal processors (DSPs), and the like. The user interface 14may establish communication wirelessly by utilizing RF signals and/ordata that comply with communication standards such as cellular 2G, 3G,or 4G, IEEE 802.11 standard such as WiFi®, IEEE 802.16 standard such asWiMAX, Bluetooth®, or combinations thereof. Alternatively, oradditionally, the user interface 14 may establish communication throughconnectors or couplers that receive metal conductor wires or cableswhich are compatible with networking technologies such as ethernet. Incertain embodiments, the user interface 14 may also couple with opticalfiber cables.

In one embodiment, a user may operate the user interface 14 to enter atarget inflation pressure into the control device 18. For example, theuser may enter 36 pounds per square inch (psi) to instruct the controldevice 18 to inflate a tire or other object to approximately 36 psi. Theuser interface 14 may include any combination of buttons, switches,dials, touchscreen displays, or other inputs that may be manipulated bya user to enter information into the control device 18. The userinterface 14 may even employ technologies such as radio frequencyidentification (RFID) readers, quick response (QR) code readers, and thelike that communicate with RFID tags, QR codes, and the like on objectsto be inflated so as to automatically detect a target inflation pressurefor the objects.

The inflation indicator 16 is wired to or wirelessly coupled with thecontrol device 18 and displays or otherwise indicates when a tire orother object will be fully inflated. For example, if a user enters atarget pressure of 36 psi via the user interface 14 as described above,the control device 18 calculates the estimated amount of time to fullyinflate the tire to this selected psi and then indicates this inflationtime and possibly other information via the inflation indicator 16.

The inflation indicator 16 may be any device for displaying or otherwiseindicating inflation time. For example, the inflation indicator 16 maybe a countdown timer that displays a numeric and/or graphical indicationof remaining inflation time; a series of lights that illuminate and/orchange color to indicate inflation time; a beeper, tone generator, orother audible device that emits a series of sounds to indicate inflationtime; a vibrator that vibrates to indicate inflation time; or any othervisual, audible, or mechanical device that provides indications oralerts of inflation time.

The inflation indicator 16 may be positioned on the housing of the tireinflator so that it may be viewed or otherwise noticed by a user whilestanding near an object that is being inflated or may be positioned onthe end of a power cord 26 so that it may be viewed or otherwise noticedby a user while sitting safely in a vehicle or near any other powersource.

In some embodiments, the tire inflator 10 may include two or moreinflation indicators, one of which may be positioned on the housing ofthe tire inflator and another of which may be positioned on the end ofthe power cord 26 or elsewhere. The tire inflator 10 may employ wirelesscommunication technologies as described above to wirelessly transmitinflation times and/or other information to mobile communication devices28 such as smart phones, smart watches, tablets, vehicle onboardcomputers, and other computing devices. The wireless communication mayinclude a wireless network 30, as shown in FIG. 1.

Another embodiment of the inflation indicator 16 is shown in FIG. 2.This embodiment of the inflation indicator 16 includes an LED display orother digital display to visually indicate remaining inflation times andother information. The inflation indicator 16 includes a field 32 forindicating a target inflation pressure for an object to be inflated, afield 34 for indicating a current pressure of the object, a field 36 fornumerically indicating how long it will take to inflate the object tothe target inflation pressure, and a field 38 for graphically indicatinginflation progress. The field 36 may be a static time or an active time,which indicates a time remaining. These fields 36, 38 are controlled andupdated by the control device 18 to indicate the inflation progress fora tire or other object. For example, FIG. 3 shows the inflationindicator 16 with “36” in the field 32 for indicating a desiredinflation pressure of 36 psi, “18” in the field 34 for indicating acurrent pressure of 18 psi, “5” in the field 36 for numericallyindicating it will take approximately 5 minutes longer to fully inflatethe object to 36 psi, and 5 bars (out of 10) illuminated in the field 38for graphically indicating the inflation progress. FIG. 4 shows theinflation indicator 16 further in an inflation process with “36” in thetarget pressure field 32, “25” in the current pressure field 34, “3” inthe remaining inflation time field 36, and 7 bars (out of 10) in theinflation progress field 38. Likewise, FIG. 5 shows the inflationindicator 16 at the end of an inflation process with “36” in the targetpressure field 32, “36” in the current pressure field 34, “0” in theremaining inflation time field 36, and 10 bars (out of 10) in theinflation progress field 38.

The field 38 can be of any shape. For example, the field 38 may be inthe shape of an hourglass, as shown in FIGS. 6, 23, and 27-30. The field38 may also be a stopwatch, as shown in FIGS. 8, 16, 20-22, and 32. Thefield 38 may also be an arced shape, as shown in FIGS. 35-35. Theinflation indicator 16 may also include a symbol 40 that indicates wheninflation is complete, as shown in FIGS. 6-8, 9, 16, 23, and 30-35.

The inflation indicator 16 may also display field 32 and field 34 in anyunit of pressure including psi, bars, or kilopascals, as shown in FIGS.10-15, 17-22, and 24-29. In FIGS. 13, 20, and 27, field 34 displays thecurrent pressure at 15 psi. In FIGS. 14, 21, and 28, field 34 shows thissame pressure in bars, which is 1.02. In FIGS. 15, 22, and 29, field 34shows that same pressure in kilopascals, which is 102. In FIGS. 10, 13,17, 20, 24, and 27, field 32 displays the target pressure of 30 psi. InFIGS. 11, 14, 18, 21, 25, and 28, field 32 shows this same pressure inbars, which is 2.05. In FIGS. 12, 15, 19, 22, 26, and 29, field 32 showsthat same pressure in kilopascals, which is 205.

In some embodiments of the inflation indicator 16, the user interface 14is on a bottom portion of the inflation indicator 16. The inflationindicator 16 could include any combination of the items described abovewithout departing from the scope of this invention.

The control device 18 controls the operation of the air pump 12. Inaccordance with an aspect of the invention, the control device 18 may beconfigured to sense a current pressure of the object being inflated,calculate the estimated remaining time to fully inflate the object, anddisplay or otherwise indicate this and other information as describedbelow.

The control device 18 may comprise any number or combination ofprocessors 42. The processor 42 may include controllers, sensors,circuits, integrated circuits, programmable logic devices such asprogrammable logic controllers (PLC) or motion programmable logiccontrollers (MPLC), computers, microcontrollers, transmitters,receivers, other electrical and computing devices, and/or residential orexternal memory for storing data and other information accessed and/orgenerated by the tire inflator 10. The control device 18 may controland/or sense operational sequences. The control device 18 and computerprograms described herein are merely examples of computer equipment andprograms that may be used to implement the present invention and may bereplaced with or supplemented with other controllers and computerprograms without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The control device 18 may implement the computer programs and/or codesegments to perform various functions described herein. The computerprograms may comprise an ordered listing of executable instructions forimplementing logical functions in the control device 18. The computerprograms may be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by orin connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice, and execute the instructions. In the context of thisapplication, a “computer-readable medium” may be any physical mediumthat can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport theprogram for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device. The computer-readable medium may be, forexample, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electro-magnetic, infrared, or semi-conductor system, apparatus, ordevice. More specific, although not exclusive, examples of thecomputer-readable medium may include the following: an electricalconnection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable,programmable, read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a portablecompact disk read-only memory (CDROM), an optical fiber, multi-mediacard (MMC), reduced-size multi-media card (RS MMC), secure digital (SD)cards such as microSD or miniSD, and a subscriber identity module (SIM)card.

The residential or external memory 44 may be integral with the controldevice 18, stand-alone memory, or a combination of both. The memory 44may include, for example, removable and non-removable memory elementssuch as RAM, ROM, flash, magnetic, optical, USB memory devices, MMCcards, RS MMC cards, SD cards such as microSD or miniSD, SIM cards,and/or other memory elements. The control device 18 may be integratedinto the air pump 12 or may be a standalone device that is wired to theair pump 12. The air pump 12 and control device 18 may receive powerfrom the power cord 26 that plugs into a 12V DC accessory socket such asa vehicle cigarette lighter receptacle or a 120V AC receptacle.

In use, a user couples the nozzle 24 with a tire valve, corresponding tostep 112 of FIG. 1A. The control device 18 detects the current pressureof the tire (step 114). The user inputs a target pressure into the userinterface 14 which transmits the target pressure to the control device18 (step 116). The control device 18 calculates the amount of time itwill take to achieve the target pressure and sends this time to theinflation indicator 16 (step 118). The inflation indicator 16 displaysthis time (step 120). The user then directs the control device 18 viathe user interface 14 to initiate inflation. The control device 18directs the air pump 12 to begin pumping pressurized air into the tire(step 122). The control device 18 continuously detects the tirepressure, re-calculates the estimated remaining time until the targetpressure is reached, and sends the remaining time and the currentpressure to the inflation indicator 16 (step 124). The target pressuremay be considered reached when the current pressure is within apredetermined margin of the target pressure. The predetermined marginmay be a certain percentage of the target pressure, such as 1%, 5%, 10%,etc. The inflation indicator 16 displays the remaining time and thecurrent pressure. In one embodiment, the control device 18 mayautomatically shut off the air pump 12 when the target pressure isachieved (step 126). In another embodiment, the control device 18 mayindicate the target pressure has been reached via the inflationindicator 16, or through an electronic transmission (such as a wirelessmessage) to a mobile communication device such as a smart phone, smartwatch, vehicle onboard computer, and the like, or through a visualand/or audio indicator (also step 126).

Although the invention has been described with reference to theembodiments illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it is notedthat equivalents may be employed and substitutions made herein withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as recited in the claims.

Having thus described various embodiments of the invention, what isclaimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includesthe following:
 1. A portable inflation device for inflating an object,the portable inflation device comprising: a pump including an elongatedhose, and an inflation nozzle in fluid communication with the elongatedhose and configured to connect to the object; a user interface attachedto the pump and configured to receive a first signal representative of atarget pressure; a control device coupled to the user interface andconfigured to— control operation of the pump, determine a currentpressure of the object, receive a second signal representative of thetarget pressure from the user interface, calculate an estimatedremaining time for running the pump until the current pressure is withina predetermined margin of the target pressure, and transmit a thirdsignal representative of the estimated remaining time; and an inflationindicator wirelessly coupled to the control device and configured to—receive the third signal representative of the estimated remaining time,and display the estimated remaining time.
 2. The portable inflationdevice of claim 1, wherein the user interface is wirelessly coupled tothe control device.
 3. The portable inflation device of claim 2, whereinthe control device is configured to wirelessly couple with a mobilecommunication device and transmit the third signal to the mobilecommunication device.
 4. The portable inflation device of claim 3,wherein the control device is configured to send a fourth signalrepresentative of a notification to the mobile communication device whenthe current pressure is within the predetermined margin of the targetpressure.
 5. The portable inflation device of claim 2, wherein thecontrol device is configured to wirelessly couple with an onboardcomputer of a vehicle and transmit the third signal to the onboardcomputer of the vehicle.
 6. The portable inflation device of claim 1,wherein the control device is configured to shut off the pump when thecurrent pressure is within the predetermined margin of the targetpressure.
 7. The portable inflation device of claim 1, wherein theinflation indicator is configured to display the current pressure andthe target pressure.
 8. The portable inflation device of claim 1,wherein the inflation indicator is configured to display a field thatgraphically indicates inflation progress.
 9. The portable inflationdevice of claim 7, wherein the user interface is configured to receive aselected unit of measurement in which to display pressure, the controldevice is configured to convert the current pressure and target pressureto the selected unit of measurement, and the inflation indicator isconfigured to display the current pressure and target pressure in theselected unit of measurement.
 10. The portable inflation device of claim1, further including a power cord for connecting the portable inflationdevice to a power source, wherein the inflation indicator is positionedon an end of the cord.
 11. The portable inflation device of claim 1,wherein the inflation indicator is configured to display an indicatorwhen the estimated time remaining has expired.
 12. The portableinflation device of claim 1, wherein the inflation indicator comprises avibration device configured to activate when the estimated timeremaining has expired.
 13. The portable inflation device of claim 1,wherein the inflation indicator comprises a sound-making deviceconfigured to activate when the estimated time remaining has expired.14. The portable inflation device of claim 1, wherein the user interfaceincludes an RFID reader or a QR code reader configured to read an RFIDtag or QR code that has the target pressure for the object embeddedtherein.
 15. A portable inflation device for inflating an object, theportable inflation device comprising: a pump comprising— an elongatedhose, an inflation nozzle configured to connect to the object, and asensor configured to detect the current pressure of the object; acontrol device coupled to the sensor and configured to— receive a firstsignal representative of the current pressure of the object from thesensor of the pump, and transmit a second signal representative of thecurrent pressure; a power cord having a first end for connecting to apower source and a second end for connecting to the control device; andan inflation indicator positioned on the first end of the power cord andconfigured to receive the second signal from the control device anddisplay the current pressure.
 16. The portable inflation device of claim15, wherein the inflation indicator is wired to the control device andconfigured to receive the second signal through wired communication. 17.The portable inflation device of claim 15, wherein the control device isconfigured to wirelessly couple with a mobile communication device andtransmit the second signal to the mobile communication device.
 18. Theportable inflation device of claim 15, wherein the control device isconfigured to wirelessly couple with an onboard computer of a vehicleand transmit the second signal to the onboard computer of the vehicle.19. The portable inflation device of claim 15, further comprising anRFID reader or QR code reader configured to read an RFID tag or QR codethat has a target pressure for the object embedded therein.
 20. Aportable inflation device for inflating an object, the portableinflation device comprising: a pump comprising— an elongated hose, aninflation nozzle configured to connect to the object, and a sensorconfigured to detect the current pressure of the object; a userinterface attached to the pump and configured to receive a first signalrepresentative of a target pressure; a control device coupled to theuser interface and configured to— control operation of the pump, receivea second signal representative of the current pressure of the objectfrom the sensor of the pump, receive the first signal representative ofthe target pressure from the user interface, calculate an estimatedremaining time for running the pump until the current pressure is withina predetermined margin of the target pressure, and transmit a thirdsignal representative of the estimated remaining time, the currentpressure, and the target pressure; a power cord having a first end forconnecting to a power source and a second end for connecting to thecontrol device; and an inflation indicator positioned on the first endand configured to receive the third signal from the control device anddisplay the estimated remaining time, the target pressure, and thecurrent pressure.